Nightmares
by camelotgirl1
Summary: Merlin refuses to sleep in front of the knights, always keeping watch and not getting any rest. When Arthur finally forces him to sleep, Merlin has a nightmare that changes everything. Tensions rise and secrets come to light as Arthur struggles to discover what fear could possibly be keeping Merlin awake.
1. Nightmares

**A/N: Hello, fellow fanfic reader and writers! This is a one shot about Arthur, Merlin, and a certain secret. This idea came to me months ago and I wrote half of it then forgot about it. I just recently found it and found myself finishing it,against my will, knowing I should be working on my other story Emrys Revealed. Writers are weird ;) Now to my Emrys Revealed readers, this is not part of Emrys Revealed so you non-Emrys Revealed readers do not need to read it to understand this. They are two separate stories. Now I know everyone is hear to read the story, so just sit through a short disclaimer then the story should begin momentarily.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Merlin there would be a 6th season. And a 7th. And an 8th. And a, ok you get where I'm going with this. I obviously don't own Merlin.**

Nightmares

"Come on Merlin; let me take watch for once." Sir Gwaine said.

"You actually want to?" Merlin responded.

"Well, not really bu-"

"Then I will, because I'm the servant, and that's all there is to it."

"Do _you_ actually want to?" Gwaine asked.

Merlin stayed silent at that.

They were in the forest of Dranin, about 5 days outside of Camelot, journeying to the kingdom of Adoewen. King Arthur had been asked to attend an important meeting that was to take place at the kingdom and had brought along his best knights for the journey. Well, his best knights and Merlin.

For the past four nights Merlin had been keeping watch and even though he could take small naps here and there, the lack of sleep was taking its toll. Gwaine and the other knights, besides Arthur who had just stayed quiet throughout this entire thing, had started to worry about him, yet he insisted on keeping watch, saying it was his duty as a servant.

It was almost dark and the knights still had no luck getting Merlin to relent to some sleep, so they just lay down on their sleeping rolls and watched Merlin sit up against a tree to keep watch. Gwaine's eyes were just starting to close when he heard Arthur say, "Go to sleep Merlin. I'll keep watch."

Immediately all the knights sat up. "But sire," Elyan said, "you need your strength, and for that you need sleep."

Leon agreed. "Arthur, you are the king. You do not need to keep watch. We can do that job."

"Well, he wasn't listening to you though, was he?" Arthur said.

"Yeah, and I'm not going to listen to you either." stated Merlin.

Sir Leon had long since gotten over the fact that Merlin was allowed to talk to the king any way he wanted, but occasionally comments like that still made him cringe. If Uther had heard that, man, all hell would have broken loose. But Arthur just looked down at Merlin and said, seemingly unfazed by that harsh comment, "I'm the King and I order you to sleep."

"Since when have I listened to your orders?" Merlin said, causing another slight cringe from Leon.

"Merlin, you look like you're at deaths door and the only reason I can think of for that is because you haven't been sleeping. I get that you're my servant and you need to serve me, but you don't need to kill yourself for me. Now get some sleep."

"But-"

"Now." The king said in his best 'If you don't do what I say you will find your head on a stick' tone of voice.

Apparently he got the message across because Merlin scurried away from the tree and went to lie on the ground.

When Merlin's breathing steadied, signaling that he was asleep, Gwaine whispered, "Thank you Arthur."

The king smiled. "It was nothing. Besides, I don't think I would be able to get any sleep tonight anyway."

At the knights questioning looks he said, "I'm a bit nervous about tomorrow. Camelot hasn't really been on great terms with Adoewen for as long as I've lived, and I'm not quite sure what they want to discuss."

The knights all exchanged worried glances. For the king to even say he was a bit nervous must mean that he was close to terrified.

That's when it happened.

It started with a slight movement coming from Merlin. Arthur and his knight looked over to see if the servant was still awake and if he was, to order him to sleep. But when nothing more happened, they turned away, wondering if they had really heard it at all. Then it happened again.

And again.

"Merlin?" Arthur said as he slowly approached the sleeping boy. His knights followed closely behind.

"Merlin?" Arthur said again, wondering if the manservant was awake.

Suddenly Merlin started crying and jerking around. It was now quite obvious that he was no longer awake. "Arthur!" Merlin yelled.

"What, Merlin? I'm right here." Arthur said, trying to reassure his manservant, but Merlin was dreaming and was not aware of what was going on in the real world.

"Arthur!" Merlin yelled again. "I'm sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." Tears were streaming down the boys face but Arthur still could not wake him. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. Arthur, please don't hurt me."

Arthur froze as all the knights turned to stare daggers at him, especially Gwaine. "Hurt-I wouldn't, I swear I wouldn't. I've never, I haven't." Arthur said over Merlin's constant pleas, the King's words coming in short gasps. The knights were now looking from Arthur to Merlin. Well, all except Gwaine who had gathered the boy up in his arms and was rocking him gently.

"Arthur, don't. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please don't hurt me."

"Is this why he never wanted to sleep in front of us?" Elyan said. "Did he know he would have nightmares?"

"He's probably had them before, thanks to yours truly over there." Gwaine said, throwing a hateful glare at Arthur.

"Please don't hurt me."

"I swear I haven't!" Arthur said and suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. He shot to his feet and ran into the forest, getting as far away from his crying manservant and hateful knights as he could.

Eventually running out of breath, Arthur stopped and put his back against a tree. He slowly slid down to the bottom of the tree and sat with his head in his hands.

_What the hell happened? Why would Merlin even consider the fact that I would want to hurt him? Haven't I made it quite clear that Merlin and I were friends? Even though I've never said it out loud, I thought I'd made it pretty obvious._

That's when it hit Arthur. Maybe he hadn't. Maybe he hadn't made it obvious at all. Maybe all that constant teasing and insults which Arthur meant no harm by, had really meant something to his manservant. Maybe all this time Merlin had secretly resented Arthur for everything he said.

But to consider the fact that he would actually _hurt _him? That was almost too much for Arthur to bear.

So there he sat, with his back against the tree, for what felt like hours. It could have been ten minutes, or it could have been 5 lifetimes for all Arthur knew, and he never, not once moved from the tree.

Suddenly he heard footsteps coming up behind him, snapping him out of his trance. Probably one of his angry knights coming to yell at him.

"Look, I'm sorry." Arthur said, turning around. "I swear I never-" but stopped abruptly when he realized who he was talking to.

It was Merlin.

"Hi." Merlin said, sheepishly.

"Hi." Arthur said back. Ok, maybe not the most kingly thing to say at the moment, but this was kind of an awkward situation.

"Sooo" Merlin said, just adding to the awkward feel. "Could you please tell me why I woke up in Gwaine's arms? Is there something I should know?"

Arthur just shrugged, not exactly sure what to say.

"I mean, I fall asleep for what? Ten minutes? Honestly, what the hell did I miss?"

"Why did you come to find me? Why not just ask Sir Gwaine?" Arthur asked, not quite sure where this was going.

"I did, but he told me I should go find you. Any reason why he gave me that order in a voice that clearly stated he would like nothing more than for you to go die in a hole?"

"Not sure." Arthur said, looking down at his feet, making it obvious that he was totally sure. Wow, I am really not myself right now. What is happening to me?

Merlin obviously noticed the same thing, as he sat down right next to Arthur and looked him in the eye. At least he tried to, but considering Arthur wouldn't look at him, it really wasn't having the desired effect.

"Arthur, you can tell me anything you know."

That did it.

"So can you! You can tell _me _anything! Starting with why the hell you think that I would ever hurt you! Why?! I know I tease you and make fun of you, but I mean nothing by it! Why didn't you tell me something was wrong, that I was scaring you?! Am _I _the reason you're scared of everything? What have I done?! Please tell me Merlin."

His manservant looked startled (who wouldn't be?) for a few seconds, but then seemed to realize what exactly Arthur was talking about.

"I was talking in my sleep again, wasn't I? And you heard me, didn't you?" Merlin asked, his turn to look at the ground.

"Heard you? Of course I heard you! Everyone heard you! Now they all think I'm a complete monster!" Arthur yelled, now standing up.

"That's why I didn't want to sleep in front of everyone. I was better off taking watch." Merlin said softly.

"No, you needed sleep. Now will you tell me what happened? How did these dreams start? Why? You know I would never hurt you Merlin." Arthur said, now in a concerned tone of voice.

"No, I don't."

Now Arthur was really concerned. Inside, he had really believed that Merlin didn't actually think he was going to hurt him; it was just dreams that got out of hand. Obviously he was wrong, and though Arthur didn't want to admit it, that scared him a great deal.

Arthur knelt beside him. "Merlin, I promise you, I would never _ever_ hurt you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Merlin, I-"

"Come on." Merlin said, standing up. "If we don't leave now, we'll never make it to Adoewen."

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT BLOODY ADOEWEN! WHAT'S-"

"WELL YOU SHOULD!" Merlin yelled, very angry now. "THIS TREATY MEANS A LOT TO CAMELOT AND I WON'T HAVE IT FALL TO PIECES BECAUSE OF ME!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TREATY RIGHT NOW!" Arthur yelled, and then visibly calmed himself down. He was going to get nowhere with Merlin handling things like this. "I just want to know what is bothering you. I can help. Whatever it is, it's probably not as bad as you think it is."

"You have no idea." Merlin's voice got dangerously low. Now he was not only angry, he was furious. Arthur also thought he saw a glint of tears in his eyes. "You have no idea of the things I've seen and what I've done. NO IDEA!"

"But I will have an idea if you just tell me."

"I can't tell you."

"Yes you can-"

"NO I CAN'T!" Tears were now streaming down Merlin's face. "I can't tell you anything. I want to Arthur, I want to desperately, but I can't."

"Why?"

"I have a secret, I secret you can never know. If you _ever _found out, it could mean death, not just to me, but to everyone in Camelot. Including you."

Arthur couldn't imagine his usually happy servant burdened with such knowledge, or tortured by such actions. It now seemed as though every smile, every laugh, every carefree moment Merlin and him, or Merlin and anyone, had shared must have all been a lie, a clever façade to mask what was really going on inside. Suddenly Arthur was burdened with such guilt as he had never felt before. He had stood by as his servant went through, well whatever he went through, being none the wiser. Well, no more. Arthur was going to put a stop to this one way or the other.

"Merlin, you can tell me, and I promise that I will protect you from whomever or whatever will try to kill you."

Merlin laughed at that. A dry, low, unhopeful laugh.

"That's not possible, Arthur, because you'll be the one doing the killing."

It took a few seconds for those words to sink in, but when they did, Arthur had to hold on to a tree branch for support. "What would _I _kill you for?"

Merlin drew in a shaky breath and looked at Arthur quizzically, and then seemed to come to a decision. "You would kill me for something I can't help. Something I was born with. Something I have to live with everyday. Something that requires me to live in fear everyday I'm in Camelot. Something that would take my head from my body with just one word."

Arthur's eyes widened. "You're not…"

Before Merlin could even open his mouth, a flash of purple through the trees caught both of their eyes. It was a cloak with the crest of Adoewen embellished on the back. And attached to the cloak was a knight. A very big knight, with a crossbow and a murderous look in his eye.

"Hello sire." he said, coming out of the trees and smiling. "The treaty between Camelot and Adoewen has been, how shall I say it…revoked. We've decided we'll just take Camelot without a stupid treaty, starting with the death of the king."

And with that, he let the arrow fly, right at Arthur's heart. But it never made it.

Arthur turned just in time to see Merlin's eyes flash gold and stop the arrow in midair, making it fall to the ground.

"Do you have anything else to say to the King of Camelot?" Merlin said, looking at the knight murderously.

"As a matter of fact, I do." the knight said, looking right back at Merlin.

And without a moment's hesitation, the knight turned towards Merlin and shot an arrow at him, faster than Arthur would have thought possible. So fast, no one could possibly have been ready for it. No one except Merlin.

Just before the arrow pierced his body, Merlin's eyes flashed gold and he caught the arrow midair.

Merlin looked down at the arrow in his hand; hovering mere millimeters from his body, then looked at the knight.

"You should not have done that."

**A/N: So how was it? This was written as a oneshot but if enough people want to me to continue it, I would be more than happy to. I have a thing for magic reveals and powerful 'everyone run and hide' Merlin. So if it's not too much to ask, can you please leave me a review to tell me how I did, what was wrong and right, and whether or not you think Merlin should have a spin-off series (I know that one was random you don't really have to answer it but wouldn't that be awesome?!). Thanks a bunches! Still testing that phrase out, not sure if I like it.**

**To my Emrys Revealed readers (and if your not one, you should totally go and read it, it would mean the world): I'm sorry I haven't updated but something went wacky with my computer and it's not saving and I lost the document with my ideas so now if anyone has any suggestions that would be very helpful because I have serious writers block.**


	2. The Knights of Adoewen

**A/N: Thank you so much for the overwhelming response this story got! As you can see, I have decided to continue this story due to the outstanding reviews (as well as a few threats pertaining to if I didn't continue) I received asking me to continue Nightmares. I'm not quite sure how long this story will be, because I've got a few ideas, but it all depends on the response I get. Now I'm not quite sure whether or not I like this chapter, but I really wanted to get it up for you guys because your feedback really motivated me. So if there is anything you can suggest to make this better, please tell me, your thoughts really count.**

**Thank you to all that reviewed, you are the best: 01beirke, Guest, naomihirshf, Miharux3 (I know, I so wish there was more of that side of him on the show), MidnaWolf, iceecream456 (I'm honored that you reviewed my story then, that means a lot), BobboTheMonkii, Lesley (Guest), merlinreveal3, Needs More (Guest) (I wrote more (: ), Teshka, Directioneronfire, KmKizmet (thanks for everything), FromTheCouncilOfTimeWizards, Guest, CarolynneRuth, ARTs Ninja Pal (thanks your review meant so much, I really love BAMF!Merlin too), Peabodythecat (yea, I suppose it does seem more "Arthur" to stalk off moodily, thanks because I never would have noticed), cyenthia30 (you will get them eventually I promise), GoldenFireFish, Guest, kirby77dp77 (Guest), rger22 (love your suggestions and keep in eye out throughout this story, they may just come up (; ), Anon (Guest), freshly caught Cornish pixes (your review actually got me to start typing immediately and was why this is up so fast, thank you so much!), don't-even-ask1 (yes someone else pointed that out too but that was needed for the story and thanks for your kind review), .Riptide, Guest, Ciara (Guest), Princess101855 **

**If I accidently left you off please let me know and I will give you a shout out next time. **

******Thanks to all those who favorite and followed and reviewed: You are the reason I am writing fanfiction instead of doing my homework.**

**Now without further ado...**

**Wait hold on, disclaimer. Disclaimer: Don't own Merlin**

**Ok, now you can read**

Nightmares

Arthur's insides turned to ice as he watched Merlin glare at the knight murderously. Arthur was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that his cheerful carefree servant had disappeared, and did not seem like he would come back for quite a long while.

The knight's eyes flashed with fear for a split second before he covered it up quickly with a cruel and bloodthirsty smile.

"Interesting. I didn't know Camelot hired monsters as servants these days."

Everything went silent for a few seconds, until suddenly Merlin let out a roar and his eyes became the color of molten gold. His hands went up in front of him and an invisible force slammed the knight against a tree. Hard.

The knight climbed back up into a standing position again, blood trickling from his lips. "Really got you there. Must be a soft spot-"

But the knight never got to finish his thought, for Merlin slammed him against the tree again. And again. Then he flung him over to another tree and threw him hard against that one. Then threw him at another.

Arthur heard a sickening crack and knew the knight was no more for this world.

Yet Merlin continued to throw him against a tree, over and over again, until finally Arthur had to yell "STOP MERLIN STOP! HE'S DEAD ALREADY! JUST STOP!"

Merlin finally let down his hands and the knight dropped to the ground in a bloody heap. Arthur could hardly even recognize him anymore.

Arthur looked over at Merlin, who seemed just as stunned as he was.

"You-you killed him. You killed him Merlin." Arthur said, looking at his manservant.

"I did. I killed him." Merlin said shakily, looking down at his hands. "I really am a monster, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Arthur answered, then widened his eyes, realizing what he just said.

Merlin only had time to stare incredulously at Arthur before they heard the yells.

XXX

Gwaine was going to kill that sorry excuse for a king. Was going to good and properly kill him. Of course Leon would not approve, but that was no matter. Gwaine could work around that. Elyan could be persuaded and Percival, well Percival usually did whatever Gwaine said. Gwaine would just have to apologize to Gwen afterwards, but that was a small price to pay. Yes, everything should go quite smoothly indeed.

And why is Sir Gwaine, one of the most loyal and trusted Knights of the Round Table, plotting to kill the king, you may ask? Well, the answer to that question is simply the fact that Arthur had messed with Gwaine's friend. Gwaine's best friend. And that was just unacceptable.

Merlin had just woken and run off to find Arthur, and the knights were left standing at the camp, not quite sure what to do with themselves. They knew they must leave for Adoewen soon, yet they also knew that Arthur and Merlin had quite a lot to talk about, and they would probably not be moving anytime in the near future. So they each settled on doing their own thing, just trying to pass the time.

Elyan was wondering what Arthur and Merlin were talking about and how this would affect their friendship (if there even was one in the first place). Percival was speculating on what Merlin's dreams could possibly consist of and was being haunted by his own childhood nightmares as he sat there flexing his muscles. Leon was going over the proper etiquette and rules a knight of chivalry should follow in his mind as a good soldier should in times of boredom. And Gwaine was imagining inventive and graphic ways for King Arthur to be brutally murdered in his sleep, or preferably when he was awake and could feel pain.

So lost in their own thoughts were they, that they didn't even notice the dozens of knights in purple cloaks sneaking around to circle their campsite.

Finally, one of the enemy knights made a sign with his hand and all the soldiers in purple cloaks charged the Camelot campsite.

The knights were broken out of their reveries, and Gwaine out of a perfectly good image of Arthur being slowly pulled apart by two really strong men (Percival and his twin, maybe), by the war cries coming from the invading knights. The Knights of the Round Table jumped to their feet and started attacking the purple-cloaked knights, who weren't holding anything back. Eventually the enemy knights won by sheer numbers, and captured each of Camelot's knights and forced them on their knees.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said a purple cloaked knight, who seemed to be the leader. "A bunch of soldiers on a patrol possibly? But, no, you seem to be wearing the crest of Camelot. You must be the King's entourage for his journey to Adoewen. Too bad you will never make it."

"Who are you?" brave Sir Leon asked. "How do you know who we are?"

"My, my, I would have thought Camelot's best knights would have recognized the crest of Adowen by now, seeing as we have it adorned on our cloaks."

"We recognized it, we just know it cannot really be true. You can't be knights from Adoewen." Sir Leon answered back defiantly.

Actually Sir Gwaine had not realized it, but didn't think this would be the most appropriate time to bring up his lack of skill in memorizing the crests of different kingdoms. He just never really thought he would need that in life. Well, life's certainly having a good laugh in his face right now.

"You don't believe it's true?" the knight said in mock incredulity. "And why is that?"

"You must be bandits." Sir Leon said. "Bandits who have stolen the cloaks of Adoewen's knights in an attempt to deceive us into believing that Adoewen may not want to discuss peace. We will not fall for your trickery."

"You just wish that were true." The knight said with a wicked smile. "Alas, we are the real knights of Adoewen and we definitely do not want to discuss peace."

"Then what do you want to discuss?" Sir Leon said slowly, pronouncing every word like it could be his last.

"We want to, and will, take your kingdom. Discussion will not be necessary."

The knight beckoned another knight over and was handed a crossbow. "Now, which one of you should I kill first to get me one step closer in obtaining your kingdom? It'll be much easier without all of you pesky knights in the way. Don't worry; your death will be quick and mostly painless. We like to get things done fast and efficiently in Adoewen."

"You will never succeed. Our king will come for us." Sir Elyan said. "You failed to capture him. As long as he and his legacy live, Camelot will never fall."

"Oh right, did I forget to mention that?" The knight said, his cruel smile getting wider. "Your king is being, shall we say, _taken care of_ by one of our best knights, who _never_ fails. I'm afraid he is probably dead as we speak."

"You're lying!" Elyan said.

"No, I'm not. He wasn't that hard to find really. He was just sitting there talking to some man in a brown jacket. You really don't leave him with much protection. It's no matter, though. They're probably _both_ dead now."

That was when Gwaine decided that he couldn't take it anymore. It's hard enough knowing that Arthur is dead and that the kingdom and all they've worked to build will most likely fall within the next few days, but now knowing that Merlin is quite possibly dead as well. That just drove Gwaine to the breaking point.

He let out a bloodcurdling scream and charged the knight, breaking away from whatever poor soul was trying to hold him back. Camelot's other knights followed his example, and soon the air was filled with the shouts of soldiers fighting for their lives.

That was when Arthur and Merlin showed up.

XXX

After the day Arthur was having (or night technically, seeing as it was dawn right now) watching 4 of his knights charge dozens of enemy knights with no chance of winning whatsoever didn't not surprise him one bit.

So in true King Arthur form, he ran down into the fray to try and save his men, chances be damned. Everything was so chaotic, no one seemed to notice that the supposedly dead king and servant had appeared and were not, well, dead.

That was until the lead knight decided to turn around and spy Arthur fighting an Adoewen knight with his sword.

XXX

_That's not right. _The bloodthirsty knight thought to himself. _He shouldn't be alive. Something must be done about that._

Briefly going through his options, the knight finally decided on something to do. He quickly turned around and grabbed the first Camelot knight he saw and held him in a wicked death grip.

The fall of Camelot was getting closer every second, and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers this time.

XXX

Merlin had just watched the battle in silence, not quite sure what he should do. He had seen Arthur immediately run down to help his knights without a moment's hesitation.

_I wonder if Arthur would ever do something like that for me, now that he knows what a monster I am. _Merlin thought to himself.

That was another problem Merlin was grappling with. If Arthur now knew his secret, what was stopping him from snapping his fingers and making the whole lot of Adoewen knights turn into frogs or flies or something?

Maybe it was the way Arthur looked at him when he first learned about his magic. Or what he said when he saw Merlin brutally murder that killer knight. Maybe it was because Merlin was just so shocked and overwhelmed that he didn't know quite what to do with himself.

So there the young warlock stood, staring at the battle, yet not taking anything in, too lost in his own thoughts to notice much. That was until he heard someone yell "STOP OR HE DIES!" snapping Merlin out of his thoughts and bringing him back down to reality.

What Merlin saw shocked him. One of Adoewen's knights, supposedly the leader considering all of Adoewen's knights stopped immediately and turned to him, with all of Camelot's knights following suit, had his arm around Sir Gwaine's neck and his knife held out.

"EVERYONE STOP FIGHTING OR I KILL HIM WITH ONE CUT!"

Gwaine was struggling furiously, but alas he could not break free of the knight's death grip.

"NOW HERE'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! EVERYONE WILL LAY DOWN THEIR SWORDS AND KING ARTHUR TELLS ME HOW HE IS STILL ALIVE, AND THEN WILL HAND THE KINGDOM OVER TO ME! FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN THE DEATH OF THIS KNIGHT RIGHT HERE! CAMELOT'S KNIGHTS ARE TOO LOYAL TO ONE ANOTHER TO ALLOW ONE OF THEIR OWN TO DIE, SO HOPEFULLY MY TERMS WILL BE FOLLOWED CORRECTLY! NOW, DROP YOUR SWORDS!"

Merlin stood stock still as all the knights began to lower their swords. No one seemed to have noticed him yet, though it seemed as though he could feel a pair of eyes trained on him, watching his every move. He scanned the crowd of knights to see who it was and finally his eyes fell upon another's.

It was Arthur.

Arthur was looking at him, trying to make him understand something.

'What?' Merlin mouthed, not getting it. The Adoewen knight was still yelling orders and Gwaine was still struggling, and the knights were still laying down their swords, yet in all that movement, Merlin was focused on one thing. A small, almost imperceptible shake of Arthur's head, in the direction of Adoewen knights. And suddenly Merlin knew exactly what Arthur wanted him to do.

Merlin held up his hands and whispered a few powerful words of the Old Religion, and as his eyes turned the color of molten gold, all of Adoewen's knights began to sink into the Earth, while Camelot's stayed safe on hard land.

The Earth was merciless to the plight of the Adoewen knights, who were struggling relentlessly, but to no avail. They were sinking, and they were sinking fast. All except one.

The lead knight still had a strong hold on Gwaine, so strong that Merlin knew Gwaine would surely be pulled into the Earth if that knight began sinking.

"That's right, I forgot about you." the enemy knight said, staring up at Merlin in disgust. "Well, I can say for sure I did not see that one coming. Thought you were just some harmless peasant. I guess I'll just have to adjust my plans to-"

"You may want to let go of him." Merlin said, in a deep and dangerous voice that completely undermined the "harmless peasant" assumption.

"Now, why would I want to do that?" the knight said, a smug look crossing his face.

"Are you going to let go of him?" Merlin asked calmly. Too calmly.

"What? I'm sorry; I must not have heard you right. I thought I heard a peasant ordering a knight around. No matter what type of magical powers you have, I still have control over you."

"Are you going to let go of him, yes or no?" Merlin asked again.

"No, I don't think I will." The knight said, smiling. "In fact…" and with that, the evil knight from Adoewen shoved his knife into Gwaine's stomach, causing Gwaine to yell and double up in pain.

"Wrong answer."

And with that Merlin threw his arms out to his sides and the knight from Adoewen exploded, fire leaping towards the sky and blood splattering everywhere, and causing a bigger BANG then what any of them had ever heard before.

**A/N: As I said, I'm not sure how good it is so any feedback you have would be really appreciated. I'm really excited to write the next chapter though. Reactions are coming your way, so stick around! Thanks and have a good day!**


	3. Reactions

**A/N: Thank you everyone for the kind reviews and the follows and favorites. Each of them made my day! Here is the third chapter of Nightmares! Sorry it's a little short but I couldn't find a better place to stop it. You'll see why ;)**

**Thanks to all who reviewed: TheSilverSleeper (So do I, his life just gets so rough sometimes), Kiki1770, Animus et Anima, KmKizmet (thank you so much, and I can see the resemblance but they aren't related), The weasel is MINE XP, sword (Guest), BobboThaMonkii (me too, and don't worry he will be), GoldenFireFish, saroura92 (thank you for your reviews, they made me laugh), Miharux3 (I like him too, but we'll see about Arthur), Guest, ruby890, Peabodythecat, Ariel guest (Guest), Peaceful Dragon Rose**

**If I skipped you please let me know and I will give you a shout out next time!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, tell me something I don't know.**

Nightmares

Arthur wiped the blood from the exploded knight out of his eyes just in time to see the wet ground that had swallowed almost all of the Knights of Adoewen become solid again.

Immediately, the Knights of the Round Table ran over to their fallen member, who was currently still alive, but not by much.

"What should we do?" Elyan asked.

"We need to get him to Gaius." Leon said.

"Here, I'll carry him on my back, we'll get there faster." Percival said, bending down to scoop Gwaine up in his arms.

"Don't bother." Gwaine protested weakly. "None of it will matter. I'm not long for this world."

"Yes, you are." A voice from behind them said. They turned around to see Merlin standing there, looking down at the ground.

"Don't you dare get anywhere near him!" Percival yelled and drew his sword, with Elyan and Leon following suit.

"I-I'm not going to hurt him." Merlin said quietly.

"How can we believe you after what you just did?" Leon said. "You have magic. You have death in your blood, murder flowing through your veins. You should die right here where you stand. The only thing that is keeping you alive is the fact that Arthur is a fair and just king, and would most likely want to give you a trial. However, if he doesn't feel that way, I have no qualms about killing a traitor, no matter how long I've known you."

Leon turned towards Arthur, who was just standing there, watching this whole exchange happen.

_Go ahead, _he wanted to say. _Go ahead and strike him down where he stands. _And yet, when Arthur opened his mouth to say just that, nothing would come out. Not a single sound.

"Sire, I believe, for the good of the people and my fellow knights, that this traitor needs to die this incident. Who knows what else he is capable of?"

_I do, _Arthur said to himself. _I know what he's capable of. I saw the bloodlust in his eyes, killing that first knight. He is evil, and capable of so much more than you know._

"Look, Gwaine is going to be the one who dies if you don't let me heal him. Do what you want with me afterwards, but please just let me heal him." Merlin pleaded, looking from one knight to the other.

"Magic cannot heal!" Leon said. "It can only destroy. We will not allow-"

"Aren't I already basically destroyed?" Gwaine suddenly said, looking like he was using up all the strength he has left just to get these few words out. "Just let him try. I can't get any worse."

"But Gwaine, he's a traitor and a killer!"Leon said, astounded at Gwaine for even suggesting Merlin come near.

"I don't care about your opinion on him, but he did just defeat all the Adoewen knights for us." Gwaine protested, his voice getting weaker.

"How do you know we're not next?" Leon asked, eyes still on Merlin.

'I don't, but for god sake's, I'm DYING!" Just get over it for two seconds and let Merlin heal me." Gwaine said, his voice very faint now.

And without waiting for another protest from Leon, Merlin pushed right past the knights and went to kneel by Gwaine.

"Ok, you may feel a slight burning, but it shouldn't last long." Merlin said to the fallen knight.

"A SLIGHT BURNING-" Percival started to protest, but was silenced when he saw what was taking place before him.

Merlin's eyes were closed tight with his hands on Gwaine's wound, and beautiful golden light was swirling around them. Merlin said words in the Old Religion and the light kept getting brighter and brighter and brighter, until suddenly, it vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

Merlin stood up and, by some miracle, so did Gwaine.

"Well, that was quite a day, don't you think fellas?" Gwaine said, looking quite chipper and not like he had just had a near death experience that had all signs of being an actual death experience.

"But, you healed him." Leon said. "How is that possible?"

"Wow, Arthur." Gwaine suddenly said. "I didn't know you liked me that much."

Everyone turned around to see the very rare sight of tears streaming down King Arthur's face.

"I'm okay now." Gwaine said helpfully.

"How could you?" Arthur said.

"Live?" Gwaine said, always taking everything in comedic stride. "Well you see, two people loved each other very much and-"

"For once in your life would you just shut up Gwaine?!" Arthur said. "I wasn't talking to you!"

Gwaine immediately closed his mouth and walked a few steps away.

"I was talking to Merlin." Arthur said, and then yelled, "HOW COULD YOU! AFTER EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH, EVERYTHING WE'VE DONE, EVERYTHING WE'VE SAID, HOW COULD YOU?! DO YOU SEE YOURSELF, DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU LOOKED LIKE, KILLING ALL THOSE PEOPLE? IT CERTAINLY WASN'T A SAD LOOK, THAT'S FOR SURE!

"Arthur, I-" Merlin started.

"NO, I'M NOT FINISHED! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU DONE MAGIC BEHIND MY BACK?! WHAT, DID YOU THINK I WOULD BE ACCEPTING OF YOUR MAGIC? DID YOU THINK I WOULD BEND THE LAW JUST FOR YOU? IS THAT WHY YOU PRETENDED TO BE MY FRIEND? THERE IS NO WAY ANY OF THAT FRIENDSHIP IS REAL, IS THERE? DID YOU PRETEND TO BE MY FRIEND JUST SO WHEN YOUR LITTLE SECRET GOT OUT, YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO GO TO JAIL? "No, the idiot prince wouldn't put someone in jail who actually treated him like a real person for once." OF COURSE THAT'S WHAT YOU DID, BECAUSE SOMEHOW YOU KNEW, WITH THAT GOD-AWFUL MAGIC OF YOURS, YOU KNEW THAT THAT'S WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED! SOMEONE YOU TREATS ME LIKE A REAL PERSON, INSTEAD OF A PRINCE. THAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND, REGARDLESS OF MY RANK. THEN YOU WALKED IN AND YOU KNEW, YOU KNEW I WOULD WANT TO GO TO HELL AND BACK FOR YOU. YOU PLANNED THIS WHOLE TRICK JUST SO YOU COULD LIVE, JUST SO YOU COULD MAKE A FOOL OUT OF THE PRINCE BY GIVIING HIM A BEST FRIEND WHO'S A SORCERER.

"Arthur, I swear I-" Merlin protested, tears making tracks all down his face.

"AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORST PART IS?" Arthur yelled, crying as well. "YOU KNOW WHAT THE WORST PART IS, THE PART THAT MAKES EVERYTHING TEN TIMES MORE PAINFUL THAN ANY OTHER BETRAYAL OF MY LIFE?

"It worked." Arthur said, his voice quieter but still shaky with tears. "That charade, that game of yours; it worked. I can't kill you Merlin. I can't ever watch you burn."

"Arthur, please let me explain." Merlin began to say.

"How could you do that to me? Now, because of you, I'm a failure as a king. If I can't uphold one law for one person just because of my feelings, then I'm unfit to rule a kingdom. I'll now forever rule Camelot, knowing that I don't deserve to. How could you do that to me?

"Now Merlin, I want you to go. Go somewhere far, somewhere out of Camelot, where no one can find you. I just want you to go and never come back."

"Arthur, I wasn't lying about our friendship, I pro-"

"Don't you get it Merlin?" Arthur said, teary eyed and with an air of finality. "Our friendship means nothing. It means nothing to me now. All you are now is just another person who betrayed me in my life. Whatever friendship we had is now ground into dust. You're just another sorcerer who is no better than the dirt under my shoes. Go. Now."

The look in Arthur's eyes, the look of sadness, of betrayal, of _hatred_, was enough to convince Merlin that there was no winning this argument. He began to turn and walk away, but stopped as if to say something. Then looking into Arthur's eyes again, he thought better of it, and fully turned and walked away into the woods.

Arthur watched him go and felt his heart slowly turn harder. He now knew he would do whatever it takes to ensure that this never happens again. If Merlin could slip through the net of the law, so could others. There must be others hidden in his beloved Camelot, other sorcerers just waiting for their chance to bring down the kingdom. Drastic measures must be taken to prevent sorcery from ever being used again. Drastic measures. Because now Arthur fully knew the evils of sorcery and how it corrupts everyone and everything it touches.

His father was right all along.

**A/N: So what do you think? I wasn't sure about this side of Arthur, so how did I do? I love hearing your thoughts, even if you think it was awful. What do you think's coming next. **

**Also, there is a great song called "Traitor" by Chris Daughtry which I think really describes this chapter. Check it out and tell me what you think!**


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